Method and apparatus for preventing the collapse of a spool of filament reinforcements



g rovingmaterial g a central hollow perforated be impinges 0n the gainst the wall of the the filament rovings in ngs have been removed References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS e central tu 2,630,280 3/1953 Wedler.............. 2,947,489 8/1960 Russell...... 3,057,577 10/1962 Ruehl......... 3,276,718 10/1966 Binford.....................1..

Primary Examiner-Leonard D. Christian Attorneys-Sherman H. Barber and 01in E. Williams ABSTRACT: A spool of filament reinforcin is inserted into a container havin 2 42 I128 tube. Air jetting from holes in th 5h 49/00 filament reinforcings and presses them a 242,18 container, which is porous, to maintain 46 2 128 I29 position until all of the filament rovi from the spool.

/7 y l r Jonas Medney Oceanside, New York [21 Appl. No. 748,842

July 30, 1968 Koppers Company, Inc. a corporation of Delaware METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING THE COLLAPSE OF A SPOOL OF FILAMENT REINFORCEMENTS 6 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

[52] 1.1.5. [Sl] Int." [50] United States Patent [72] Inventor [22] Filed [45] Patented Dec. 8, 1970 [73] Assignee METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING THE COLLAPSE OF A SPOOL OF FILAMENT REINFORCEMENTS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In resin impregnated filament winding operations, it is customary to draw the filament rovings from the center of spools which are usually mounted on a rack or some other support.

Spools of filament rovings are relatively thick and are self supporting until only a few turns of filament rovings remain on the spool. Then, the spool wallcollapses and it is necessary sometimes to cut the filament rovings and splice on the free end of another fresh spool.

The amount of filarnent'material which is cut off can be considerable over a period of time. It is not practical to splice together short lengths of filament rovings, wherefore, this material is generally wasted. Thus, it is desirable to support the spool of filament rovings until all of the filament rovings have been withdrawn.

How the equipment and method of the present invention effectively accomplishes this objective will be evident to those skilled in the art from the following description in conjunction with the drawings.

' SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Equipment and method to support a spool of filament reinforcing rovings includes a porous cylinder surrounding the spool and a perforated central tube. Air jetting from the perforated tube impinges on the filament rovings and maintains them in contact with the wall of the cylinder until the rovings are entirely withdrawn.

For a further understanding of the invention and for features and advantages thereof reference may be made to the following description and the drawing which illustrates a preferred embodiment of equipment in accordance with the invention which is suitable for practicing the method of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a schematic elevational view in section showing suitable equipment for carrying into practice the method of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the equipment of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional spool 11 of filament reinforcing rovings which is supported on a suitable base or support structure 13. The spool 11 is surrounded in close proxirnity by a cylindrical wall 15 which is or may be porous. The cylindrical wall 15 also rests on the support 13 and may be secured thereto in any suitable manner.

An axial hollow perforated tube 17 is mounted to the support 13 in a coaxial relation with the cylindrical wall 15. The perforated tube 17 has an unperforated cap 19, and is connected in fluid communication with a conduit 21 through which air, or other suitable gaseous fluid, flows in the direction of the arrow A. The axial hollow tube 17 has therein a plurality of perforations 23 which may be circular holes, or elongate slits, as preferred.

In operation, a fresh spool l I of filament reinforcing rovings is disposed in the annular space between the wall 15 and the axial tube 17, as shown in FIG. 1. The free end 25 of the rovings is being withdrawn from the center of the spool 11 in the usual manner. Now, as long as the spool is relatively stable, during the early period of withdrawing of the free end 25, the spool will be self supporting. But, when the wall thickness of the spool l 1 becomes relatively narrow,.say less than 1 inch, it is desirable to maintain a flow of air in the direction of the arrow A.

The air, jetting from the perforations 23, impinges on the inner peripheral surface of the spool 11 and urges the wall of the spool toward the cylindrical wall 15. The filament roving 25 continues to be withdrawn, but the air jets maintain the spool in contact against the cylindrical wall until all of the filament reinforcing rovings have been withdrawn from the spool.

In some applications, it may be desirable to apply a vacuum to the porous cylindrical wall- 15 to assist the air jets in maintaining support for the spool of rovings.

A feature of the invention is that the spool is supported by air jets until all the filament reinforcing material is removed. Thus, there is no wasted filament reinforcing material.

A feature of the invention is that the equipment and method of the invention is simple, efficient, and effective in maintaining a spool of filament reinforcing material in a supported form until all of the material is withdrawn from the spool.

Although the invention has been described herein with a certain degree of particularity it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only as an example and that the scope of the invention is defined by what is hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

1. The method for supporting a spool of filament reinforcing rovings as they are being withdrawn from the center of said .spool comprising the steps:

a.'positioning said spool on a support structure;

b. surrounding in close proximity said spool a with a wall;

and

c. exerting pressure on the inner peripheral surface of the spool as the filaments are withdrawn centrally from said spool and urging said spool into contact with said wall until all of the rovings have been withdrawn from said spool.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein exerting pressure ineludes jetting air against the inner peripheral surface of said spool.

3. A method of claim 1 wherein exerting pressure includes flowing the air into a tube having perforations therein that is disposed axially with respect to said spool whereby the air jets from a said perforations against the inner peripheral surface of said spool.

4. Equipment for supporting a spool of filament reinforcing rovings as they are being withdrawn from the center said spool comprising:

a. a support; r

b. a cylindrical wall mounted on said support with its longitudinal axis vertical;

0. a coaxial tube having perforations therein mounted to said support; and

d. means for flowing a gaseous fluid into said perforated tube whereby said gaseous fluid jets from said perforations against the inner peripheral surface of a spool of rovings disposed in the annulus between said wall and said tube and urges said spool into contact with said wall.

5. The invention of claim 4' including a nonperforated cap covering the top of said coaxial tube.

6. The invention of claim 4 wherein said wall is porous. 

